Luleå, SWEDEN – EU and U.S. officials met May 30-31 in Luleå, Sweden for the fourth meeting of the EU-U.S. Trade & Technology Council to discuss continued work on transatlantic cooperation on digital governance and resilient trade. Leadership discussed ongoing strategies for strengthening the transatlantic partnership and to address global trade challenges and cooperation on key digital governance issues, releasing a statement detailing outcomes.
The statement provided updates on areas of joint work including information exchange of approaches to data governance and technology platform governance, including AI, and collaboration on addressing implications of policies that may lead to empowering non-market regimes.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association welcomes heightened, pointed transatlantic engagement particularly at a time where the EU continues its ambitious digital regulatory agenda that will shape the market for years to come.
The U.S. and EU should endeavor to engage substantively on these issues and work together to limit any unintended consequences to the transatlantic alliance. CCIA encourages the EU to avoid enacting new regulation, fees, or standards that effectively would discriminate against non-EU companies. We remain concerned with the forthcoming European Cybersecurity Certification Scheme for Cloud Services (EUCS), discussions of introducing a network usage fee on internet content and application suppliers, and provisions of the Data Act.
CCIA’s offices in Washington DC and Brussels have consistently supported greater transatlantic dialogue and cooperation on trade and technology policy, and welcome the TTC as a key platform to engage on pressing digital trade issues.
The following can be attributed to CCIA Vice President of Digital Trade Jonathan McHale:
“The TTC is a unique opportunity for the EU and the U.S. to resolve bilateral trade disputes, coordinate their responses to global priorities, and advance shared interests. We look forward to both sides being more ambitious in future rounds and deepening the transatlantic partnership by facilitating a coordinated response to global priorities and concretely addressing trade irritants.”